Interview with senior Caitlin DeWitt prior to the Sacramento State InvitationalThe LMU women's volleyball team (3-0) will hit the road for the first time this year, traveling to the Sacramento State Invitational this weekend. The Lions will square-off against UCSB (0-3), Sacramento State (2-2) and Fresno State (1-2).

After wrapping-up a five-year career for LMU as a player, Felicia Arriola wasted no time in returning to the Lions as an assistant coach within the LMU volleyball program. Arriola finished up her playing career after the 2013 season and enters her second year on the coaching staff with the start of the 2015 fall indoor volleyball season. The spring 2015 sand volleyball season will be Arriola's first as a coach after helping to start the program as a player in 2012.

In her first year as an assistant coach, Arriola helped guide LMU to the 2014 NCAA Tournament. That year's team finished the year 23-8 overall and 11-7 in the WCC (fifth). The squad began the year at 12-0, the best record to start a year in program history (previous: 10-0 | 2003), and reached 20 wins for the first time since 2003 (26-7). Taking advantage of home-court, LMU started the year 7-0 at home, the best mark since the 2003 squad went 12-0 at home to start the season. The Lions finished 11-3 in Gersten in 2014, marking the best home record since recording the same record in 2004. Seniors Caitlin DeWitt and Litara Keil were joined by junior Hannah Tedrow on the 2014 first team All-WCC squad, while freshmen Sarah Sponcil and Kristen Castellanos earned All-Freshmen honors. Keil and Tedrow would later be named Pacific South All-Region and honorable mention All-Americans, while Sponcil took home LMU's first ever Region Freshman of the Year selection.

Immersing herself with some of the top coaches in the game, Arriola spent the summer before starting as an assistant with the Lions serving as a volunteer coach with the 2014 USA Women's National Team alongside LMU head coach Tom Black (assistant with Team USA). In addition, she also served as an instructor at a pair of Gold Medal Squared volleyball camps during the summer of 2014.

Over five years as a Lion player, including a 2011 season in which she missed the entire year due to offseason surgery but still served as a Lion captain and leader from the sidelines, Arriola amassed 752 kills to rank 22nd in LMU history. The native of Laguna Niguel, Calif. also posted 882 digs at a rate of 2.34 per set.

An integral player in building the LMU sand volleyball program, Arriola teamed with Litara Keil to earn a spot in the 2013 AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships pairs bracket - LMU's first trip to the National Championship.

As a senior in 2013, Arriola, who held captain honors from the end of her freshman year through her senior campaign, appeared in 100 of a possible 104 sets for the Lions, compiling 213 kills to finish third on the squad. A threat from the service area, she served-up 26 aces to accompany 232 digs to finish second on the team in both categories.

Arriola appeared in all 31 of LMU's matches in 2012, starting 29. She managed 271 kills at a rate of 2.38 per set to place third on the team in that category, while also serving-up 18 aces and notching 252 digs to finish second on the team. A Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament team selection, she collected 38 total blocks, including two solos and 36 assists while managing four double-doubles on the year.

As a sophomore, Arriola appeared in 29 of LMU's 30 matches, including starting 28. She amassed 240 kills at a rate of 2.35 per set and finished third on the team in terms of kills and second in terms of attacks with 709. Named Utah State Invitational Tournament MVP and All-Tournament at Utah State and the Luxe City Center Trojan Invite hosted by USC, Arriola accumulated six double-doubles on the year. Arriola missed nearly a month due to injury as a freshman, but finished the year having played in 61 sets for the Lions and averaging 2.70 digs per set (165 total digs).

A 2009 graduate of Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, Calif., Arriola was a four-year varsity starter for coach Lael Fresenius. Named All-South Coast League at the conclusion of each of her four seasons on the court, she was a three-time Most Valuable Player for her squad, garnered a spot on the 2008 La Jolla All-Tournament team, and was named first team All-America after helping the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club to a 16U Open Junior Olympic Championship.

Arriola, the daughter of Andrea and Frank Arriola, has a brother, Frank, and a sister, Serena. She earned her degree in pre-physical/occupational therapy from LMU in 2014.